Someone asked the editor that her dog was diagnosed with epilepsy. At first, she just shook her ears. She thought it was ear mites, but later she dripped her ears and had no effect. After a while, the symptoms became worse and they would shake twice at night. Every time she was scared, she was at a loss and could only watch it twitch, but she didn't know what to do.
When encountering this situation, don't panic and be calm! When epilepsy occurs, the dog itself is unconscious, has no idea what is going on, and cannot feel the pain. Reiterate again! At this time, you must calm down and observe carefully while avoiding yourself or it being hurt:
· Remove any items around the dog to avoid being injured during the attack;
· Keep a certain distance from the dog and never put your hands close to the head, it is likely to bite people unconsciously during the attack;
· Turn off the lights, TV or music, make the entire environment as quiet and comfortable as possible, and avoid causing it to be stimulated again;
· Record the number, duration and severity of the dog's epilepsy (even if it occurs again, it is necessary to record it like this);
· Do not move the dog in the attack, unless it is in a very dangerous place (such as the edge);
· After the epilepsy stops, be sure to comfort it gently and do not exert too much force, otherwise it will easily occur again;
· Recalling what the dog did or ate before epilepsy;
Also, if the following situations occur, please contact a nearby doctor as soon as possible for help.
· The epilepsy seizure time exceeds 2 minutes;
· The epilepsy seizures occur more than two times within 24 hours;
· Repeated trembling behavior;
In fact, during the entire epilepsy seizure, its duration is very important. In most cases, it will not last long (1-2 minutes). If it exceeds 5 minutes, it will enter the so-called epilepsy regenerating state. Dogs will have respiratory problems and their tongue becomes purple due to insufficient oxygen, which is a very dangerous situation. No need to wait (waiting is just trying to kill yourself), wrap its limbs with a blanket (remember to dissipate heat) and send it to the hospital immediately.
Is convulsions necessarily epilepsy?
Not. Poisoning in dogs can also induce convulsions, especially in summer, every household will use mosquito coils, insecticides and other items. The pyrethroids contained in these items may be poisoned and induce convulsions as long as the dog (including cats) are exposed to them, but they will not recur like epilepsy. They can be stopped as long as they are cured. Therefore, if a dog has convulsions, it is best to take it to the hospital for examination. Don’t rush to make a conclusion~
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is caused by excessive excitement of certain neurons in the brain, which leads to sudden short-term abnormality of brain function. Due to different neuronal locations, temporary sensory disorders (loss of perception), limb convulsions, loss of consciousness, behavioral disorders or abnormal functions of the autonomic nerves will occur during the onset. And these symptoms can occur individually or simultaneously, but can only be called epilepsy when there is a recurring attack.
Epilepsy is usually divided into primary/spontaneous) and secondary/symptomatic.
Primary epilepsy
is a hereditary disease in dogs and accounts for the majority of epilepsy seizures. For dogs suffering from this type of epilepsy, the brain structure is normal, but the brain function is not normal.
The reason may be long-term inbreeding, which leads to the allergicity of the cerebral cortex and subcortical centers to external stimuli and is prone to feeling extremely slight external stimuli. It may also be caused by environmental factors, such as thunder, strong light exposure or frightened.
This primary epilepsy is generally common in dogs aged 6 months to 6 years old, and as they age, the number of seizures will become more frequent and the degree will become more serious.
Secondary epilepsy
may be caused by environmental hypoxia, insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, or hypoglycemia, liver disease, and damage to the circulatory system.
The most common diseases include head trauma (or brain parasites), tumors, inflammation, infection, and degenerative brain diseases. In addition, peripheral nerve damage, allergic reactions, and extreme stimulation can also cause epilepsy.
What symptoms will occur when epilepsy occur?
There is not only one type of epilepsy, and the symptoms of each type are not very similar. In addition, some dogs may have only one type, or there may be multiple types of epilepsy in their bodies.
However, most epilepsy seizures are not visible before any signs, and last for a short time, and they stop quickly. Fortunately, dogs will not harm themselves during epilepsy attacks.
Partial/focal epilepsy seizures
As the name suggests, they are only epilepsy seizures that affect some of the body and muscle groups. Most epilepsy belongs to this kind of epilepsy, but because of the local attack and short attack time, it is often ignored.
If you find strange convulsions on your face, drooling, and unnaturally shaking your limbs, it is best to record a video for your doctor to refer to. Although this type of systemic epilepsy is easy to identify, it is considered a relatively serious epilepsy symptom. The dog will suddenly fall to the ground and then perform a movement similar to running or pedaling. In addition, incontinence, drooling (even foaming), dilated pupils, and loss of consciousness.
Even if the perception gradually recovers after the attack, the function of the entire nervous system cannot be restored, and there are short (several seconds or days) visual absent, ataxia, confusion, mental depression, burnout or other symptoms. If it lasts for a long time (more than 2 days is recommended), it is recommended to go to a nearby hospital for a check-up.
Note: It may also be sudden during sleep or rest.
Partial epilepsy evolves to systemic epilepsy seizures
This is the most common type in dogs with epilepsy. Because partial epilepsy convulsions are not obvious and the attack time is short, when it evolves into systemic epilepsy, we often mistakenly believe that the epilepsy type belongs to the latter. Therefore, when the doctor diagnoses, be sure to tell the doctor what happened before the dog’s epilepsy.
What do I need to tell the doctor?
For example, the duration of epilepsy, whether the body is twisted during the attack, whether the legs are twitching, the degree of stiffness of the limbs during the epilepsy, whether the eyes are turning or opening up, whether you are drooling or foaming, whether you breathe smoothly, whether you have incontinence, and whether you still have consciousness.
And you also have to say what you did and what you ate before an epilepsy. Don’t think you remember too much. After all, the symptoms of epilepsy are different. In addition to normal diagnosis, doctors also rely on your description to determine the cause of epilepsy.
How will doctors diagnose?
No test can be directly diagnosed, and only the "exclusion diagnosis" method can be used. Doctors usually first ask the dog about the age of onset, the type and frequency of epilepsy seizures, and then confirm the diagnosis with comprehensive physical examinations, comprehensive neurological examinations, blood tests for FIP, FeLV, FIV and toxoplasmosis, tests for liver function (bile acids), urine tests, X-rays, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and CT scans (if no problem is found, it may be classified as primary epilepsy), nuclear magnetic resonance and other tests.
Can this disease be cured? How to treat it?
In most cases, epilepsy cannot be cured because the prerequisite for curing is to know the underlying disease problem or require targeted treatment methods, both of which are currently impossible.
The only way now is to use anti-epileptic drugs, and its treatment itself is to control and alleviate the seizures of epilepsy and to restrain the symptoms themselves.
Sedative antispasmodics can be used for drug treatment to enhance the inhibitory effect of the cerebral cortex and restore the normal regulatory function of the central nervous system.
Phenobarbital, 2-6 mg/kg body weight, take once within 6-12 hours. However, it is worth noting that there is no universal standard for how much dosage of phenobarbital should be taken. After taking the medicine for a period of time (about two weeks), go to the hospital to test the drug concentration in the blood. It is necessary to adjust the dosage according to the drug concentration.
In addition, it has another problem, that is, long-term use will cause burden on the liver, and it is best to add liver enzymes and bile acids during regular examinations.
Note: During use, frequent urine, thirst, appetite and weight gain will occur, but it is not ruled out that the side effects will disappear after the body adapts to phenobarbital.
Other drugs include: phenytoin sodium, 2-6 mg/kg body weight, taken once every 8-12 hours; valerate, 2.5-100 mg, intravenously until effective; primidone, 55 mg/kg body weight, inject subcutaneously.
Do anti-epileptic drugs have to be taken for a lifetime?
Of course not! If the condition can be controlled, it is best not to use them if possible. However, during the treatment process, you must not change the time, number of times or the number of times you feed the medicine without authorization. You must follow the doctor's advice and cooperate with the treatment.
In addition, after diagnosis, it is determined that your dog is primary epilepsy (caused by genetic or environmental reasons), and the attack does not occur more than twice a year or is not very serious, and there is no need to take medication.
However, there are relatively few cases of medication that will never recur after taking it for a while, and in most cases, they need to take anti-epileptic drugs all the time.
What can I do when facing a dog suffering from epilepsy?
No need to mention the time and time of feeding medicine at regular intervals. If a dog has an epileptic seizure, it is best to record its attack time, frequency and symptoms every time. It is best to record its behavior before the attack, which is of great help to the doctor's treatment;
If the drug you are taking is phenobarbital, remember to go to the hospital to test the concentration of the drug in the blood every two weeks;
Don't take it to swim, as it is very likely that the epilepsy seizures will occur while swimming, which will lead to drowning;
Keep ventilated in summer. Long-term epilepsy seizures will cause it to overheat. After the seizure is over, wipe its claws (legs) with cold water to help it cool down.
If you eat drugs containing potassium bromide, you must avoid foods with high sodium content, otherwise it will cause epilepsy in the dog;
Finally, let me say that for dogs with epilepsy, four months is a dividing point. If you survive four months after the epilepsy, it means that the probability of primary epilepsy is very high, and its lifespan will not be greatly affected. At most, it will twitch and will not be injured. So if your dog is determined to be epilepsy, don’t panic. It is the most important thing to figure out the type of epilepsy first.